Update: Lake Lanier Ranger Shooting

Written by Robert Sutherland

Thanks to additional information shared with LakeLanier.com by Gwinnett County’s Public Information Officer Cpl. Jake Smith, we now have the names of those involved in the shooting of an unarmed park ranger around 10 PM, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, at Lake Lanier’s Lower Overlook section of Buford Dam Park.

After police in Gwinnett County received an emergency call about the shooting around 10:15 PM, officers quickly responded to the scene where they found a federal park ranger suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso.

The injured U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Park Ranger has been identified as 70-year-old D. P. Wright, a white male. Ranger Wright underwent surgery for the gunshot wound. He remains hospitalized, but is expected to survive his injuries.

Ranger Wright was able to give a statement to officers before he was transported by ambulance from the scene of the shooting.

The unarmed ranger was routinely closing Buford Dam Park’s Lower Overlook area, driving his marked park ranger pickup truck, when he noticed a woman sitting in a vehicle in the parking lot. Initial reports said the vehicle was a pickup truck; the latest information now says it was a “passenger car.”

Robert Sutherland

Robert J. Sutherland is a travel writer enjoying life in Gainesville, GA.
Robert has two adult daughters, seven practically perfect grandchildren and a zippy Kawasaki. Contact Robert at RJSutherland@hotmail.com.